Story and Photos by Susan Berston
When activist, songwriter, and pianist Margie Adam finished her remarks on the Lesbian Tide panel, the auditorium at CUNY Graduate Center in New York City erupted—her words had clearly struck a chord.
“I’m here on this panel because, in 1973, Jeanne Córdova invited me to sing at a Lesbian Tide fundraiser. I was 26 years old, and that fundraiser launched my career in women’s music: the movement, the network, and the industry. I am now 78 years old. And I’m still not done. Shortly before Jeanne died in 2016, she sent an email out to a few friends and comrades. ‘I write publicly because I want to share this last journey, as I have shared so much of my activist life with you. You gave me a life’s cause. It is wonderful to have had a life’s cause: freedom and dignity for lesbians. I believe that’s what lesbian feminism is really about: sharing. We built a movement by telling each other our lives and thoughts about the way life should be. We cut against the grain and rethought almost everything.’” The Lesbian Tide (1971–1980) was a lesbian periodical started by Jeanne Córdova. The panel was filmed for a documentary in progress by Lynne Ballen about the Lesbian Tide.
Margie was in good company; Bay Area women showed up to the conference with fire and vision! At this year’s Lesbian Lives Conference, local scholars, writers, poets, filmmakers, musicians, and artists claimed space on panels, led and attended workshops, and reminded a global audience why the San Francisco Bay Area has always been a birthplace of movements that shaped lesbian culture worldwide. From October 23–26, 2025, these women transformed academic discourse into living, breathing community.
The conference’s journey began in Ireland in 1993, with over 40 women in attendance, when, at that time, lesbian life was still very much in the realms of the closet. Since 2011, the conference has alternated between Brighton and Dublin. Hosted by the indefatigable Julie Enszer of Sinister Wisdom, Ella Ben Hagai, Journal of Lesbian Studies, and CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies at the City University of New York, this year, with over 700 attendees, marked the first time the conference was held in the U.S.
The Lesbian Lives Conference is the world’s most established academic conference in Lesbian Studies and is a large international event that draws speakers and participants from all continents. Past speakers have included notable figures like Emma Donoghue, Jackie Kay, Val McDermid, Joan Nestle, Sarah Schulman, Sarah Waters, and academics such as Sara Ahmed, Terry Castle, Lillian Faderman, and Susan Stryker.
Bay Area Women Brought It: Dispatches from Lesbian Lives NYC
Director and Producer Deborah Craig, participated in a “Lesbian Activism” Q&A and film panel amusing and educating the audience with her award-winning film, SALLY!, about firebrand 1970s lesbian feminist, activist, and SF State women’s studies professor Sally Miller Gearhart (https://www.sallygearhartfilm.com/).
“Lesbian Lives was a joyous whirlwind of activity—from film screenings to sessions on topics ranging from Sapphic poetry to Latina Lesbians to lesbian health to archiving to trans lesbians of color and more. I met women from Taiwan, Germany, and all over the U.S.,” she exclaimed.
The documentary short Lesbian Custody was shown, with director Samuael Topiary Landberg present, revisiting a difficult period of history in the 1970s when lesbian mothers faced homophobic family courts and fought for custody of their children. Acclaimed filmmaker Nancy Kates, a Sundance alum, presented her work-in-progress film, An Everyday Riot, about lesbian activist Urvashi Vaid and her many states of being.
Strategic thinkers and doers Naomi Fine and Kathy Levinson of Lesbian Global (https://www.lesbianglobal.org/), led a workshop, “LBQ+ Women’s Economic Empowerment Idea Lab,” which included global research on the economic vulnerability of LBQTI people. Selisse Berry, who founded Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and is an advisor to Lesbian Global, brought the kind of strategic insight that comes from decades of building power for LGBTQ workers and communities. Elizabeth Seja Min, a razor-sharp strategist and facilitator whose coaching transforms how social sector leaders approach their work, delivered insights that sparkled with intelligence.
The legendary and beloved author, women’s music historian and archivist, and UC Berkeley women’s history professor Bonnie Morris served her signature wit, charm, and encyclopedic knowledge to “Diverse Uses of the Archive,” revealing how lesbian cultural history is both a treasure trove and a ticking clock. She is passionate, revered, and emphatic.
The steady voice behind KPFA radio’s Women’s Magazine, Lisa Dettmer, who is an integral part of the Lesbian Story Project—a Bay Area oral history project—was there too, providing a reminder that Bay Area lesbian media makers continue to show up, listen deeply, and carry stories back to our communities.
Closing out this powerhouse Bay Area lineup, Jewelle Gomez—the luminous author, poet, critic, playwright, and San Francisco Bay Times columnist who spent 22 years in New York City before relocating to the Bay Area—exuded powerful emotion. As part of J. Bob Allotta and Jennifer Brier’s roundtable “Extraordinary Dreaming: Remembering Dorothy Allison, Elana Dykewomon and Amber Hollibaugh,” Jewelle reflected on their writings, activism, and seismic impact on lesbian liberation that moved the room; her words were a powerful reminder of the giants on whose shoulders we stand.
Susan Berston knows the power of story. As part of the Lesbian Story Project, a Bay Area oral history initiative on film, the City College of San Francisco business instructor and Co-Executive Producer of “SALLY!” and in progress “Eyes of Mel Odom” is passionate about preserving our community’s narratives. She credits her own journey to her beloved mother, whose love and acceptance gave her the freedom to live authentically as a lesbian.
Published on November 6, 2025
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